Excerpt from "A Complete Known History of the Lost Lands"

The following story is an abridged version of the tenth chapter of third edition “A History of the Lost Lands,” published in 1497. This publication has permission from the work’s author, the historian Volterian, a highly-regarded expert of Lost Land history and lore.

Coming back from the death is a feat few have ever accomplished. In my research, I have only come across 12 individuals who have completed the task. Five of those who evaded death did so together with help from a god seeking to regain his divine status.

Our heroes fought against a mighty undead horde and lost their lives defending the wall. In death, the group had crossed the veil to a place that looked like their surroundings in life, as Frostbeard later recounted in his journal. Twilight was upon them and other souls made their way toward the Great Portal. As the adventures prepared to climb aboard a wagon heading toward the portal, the druid saw a light beckoning the party to come closer.

The light led to an abandoned apartment building, the dwarf recalled. Inside sat Merick’s deceased brother the warlock Morgan and a young man who revealed himself to be Vashanka.

Vashanka, a neutral god of war, lost his power before meeting the heroes and was seeking ways inside the veil to return to power. In exchange to return the party to the living world, Vashanka would send them back in time to retrieve the Spear of Vashanka, a weapon made of obsidian thought to be taken and destroyed by the Elven Knight Talgarth before the meteor hit the Ruined Lands. Early records of excavations of the ruins showed no signs of the spear.

The fallen god opened a portal sending the party back in time to a day before the meteor hit the island of Zapor, just to the south of the Ruined Lands and where Vanshanka left his spear.

The party arrived on the edge of the island, on the ocean side of the wall that formerly guarded the island and next to an Elven ship. Unfortunately, none of our heroes’ accounts went into detail about the condition or look of the now destroyed artifact.

Overhead, the comet loomed and so the party climbed the mountain, Morgana wrote in a later report to the Circle of Twilight. The incline was so steep, the group tied ropes around their waists to save each other from falls. Once on the ground, the party encountered a large gorilla in the jungle. After defeating the beast, the group made its way to a fort on the other side of the island. Here, the party encountered Talgarth and two of his lackeys. A fight broke out and Morgana delivered the final blow to the elven knight with the Spear of Vashanka herself.

The meteor was closing in, but our heroes’ escaped death once again. The fallen god opened a portal that took the group to Sanctuary in 1427.

Morgana's report to the Circle of Twilight

I still believe the Circle should start paying attention to the attacks on the Wall. Santucary is paying lots of gold to craftsmen and guards to keep undead from slipping through. Surely the Circle can spare a few druids to lend a hand.

As for the state of other matters, the Greyholds, the dwarf and I began to clear out the rest of Anzi’s mansion. We met the brothers in their shop in the bazaar and on our way, we saw a city guard stop a mugging. During the struggle he dropped a scroll and left before we could return it. The wizard and I could not translate the scroll, so we took it to Mellot’s Scribes to have the scroll deciphered.

Mellot, a hefty and haughty man, had a young girl named Geneva translate what he said was an ancient Yuan-ti dialect. The party paid him 25 gold and I gave him the mansion address to return the scroll to me when it was ready.

As it was Market Day, we went back to the bazaar. Parades were bustling and slaves were bought on the block.

I noticed a man whipping his fine brown and white horse over and over again as he lined the horse up for a race. I tried to buy the horse from him, but he wouldn’t and whipped the horse again.

The horse had high odds of winning, but fell in exhaustion just before the finish line. She didn’t finish the race and had lashes on her back. The man and I got in an altercation, and the watch stepped in. I went to jail and the abuser went free.

The dwarf and Greyholds tried to find out who the man was so he might drop the charges against me. They found that he was the nephew of Hanse, a prominent slaveholder that lived on the other side of the Wall.

They went out to his cottage and met the man’s gardener, whom often accompanies Hanse. Inside the cottage, the men heard harrowing shrieks. The gardener said his master was busy and would not let them in, so they tried to offer the drow elf as a trade (of course a ploy to speak with Hanse). They agreed to meet at the Vulgar Unicorn to complete the trade.

The Greyholds and Flynt then hid outside the gate and waited for the men to leave. As they were waiting, they saw the Hell Hounds Zalbar and Razkuli enter the estate. Razkuli went inside and came out moments later, appearing shaken and nodded to Zalbar. The pair then left and went back on the road to Santucary.

The Greyholds jumped the fence and as the dwarf was trying to find a way over the fence, the two Hell Hounds came back, this time with what looked like a rolled up rug. Flynt tried to hide, but they spotted him and told him to leave his weapons and back to town.

He did and tried to find Tempest to tell him of Razkuli and Zalbar’s suspicious activity. He could not find him at the Hounds’ barracks nor the Aphrodisiac, a place of harlotry and drinking. As he went to check the Vulgar Unicorn, Enas as an old woman led Geneva, the scribe girl, to Frostbeard.

Geneva translated the scroll and it ordered the assassination of Prince Kadakithis. Frostbeard tried to promise the girl to keep quiet but she insisted that if Mellot asked her about it, she would have to tell him.

The dwarf then went to the prince’s palace. As it was dawn and the prince was still asleep, the dwarf had to convince his steward, a man in a red robe, to wake him. The dwarf told the prince of the plot involving a member of the city guard and said that I could uphold his claim, and I did.

We pointed out the member of the city guard that dropped the scroll and the Hounds took the guard in for questioning. Prince Kadakithis rewarded us for uncovering the plot and said he was indebted to us. At this time, the prince was concerned about the whereabouts of Tempest.

The dwarf and I went back to the cottage, where the gardener was out trimming the hedges and a recognizable wail came from inside the house. Flynt and I feared the worst had met the Greyholds so we continued the ruse to sell the elf, who agreed to the plan. We told the gardener for he and his master to meet us at the mansion at 8 p.m. The gardener agreed.

I then went to Enas to seek help against Hanse. Enas revealed Hanse’s real name was Tevar and he was a practicing necromancer. He often slaughters people and studies their anatomy. Enas said he would send out word to a friend to aid us against Tevar.

Back at the mansion, the dwarf rested and Alexandria and I prepared for Tevar’s arrival. In the afternoon, a bugbear named Zook showed up at the door. Enas had sent him.

Tevar then arrived with his gardener. As expected, the deal went south and a fight broke out. We defeated the pair and Zook went on his way. The three of us went back to the cottage.

There, we found Morgan and Tempest chained up in a room. Tempest’s guts were spilling out of him, but he seemed unhurt. Morgan was barely alive. I healed him and he told us that Merick was devoured by zombies after Tevar killed him. Tevar’s nephew died in the struggle.

I freed Tempest and the dwarf told him about the plot against the prince. The Hound went back to the palace then.

Upon searching the house, I found many tomes about the undead, necromancy and other dark arts. The Circle may find these useful to battle the monsters.

One book of note was the Journal of Talgarth. It was about a knight’s journey to find the monks of the Golden Circle. Does the Circle know more about this knight or the monks?

As we got back in town in town, we saw another work crew set out for the Wall and Razkuli and Zalbar’s heads were on spikes.

The party rested and then we set out to clean up the rest of the mansion. Enas sent two more adventurers, a barbarian bearman …. and a paladin halfing Burl. We discovered more blue hawk masked men in the kitchen, zombies and ghouls and some of Anzi’s bandits guarding a portal. The last bandit told us there were also prisoners in a room upstairs. We found them and helped them return to their homes. Most of them were from Santucary, but one named Jolen was captured in Drakklafell. The dwarf paid for his passage home.

That night, two visitors came into Morgan’s shop, one Anna Adele of Morphus and the other Edwenna Dunn. Both were in search of the Journal of Talgarth. Morgan told both he would search for the tome.

Later, another horde of undead attacked the Wall, killing the work party that left that morning.

From the Journal of Flynt Frostbeard

Last morn, the lass, the wizard and I went to the port in to have a peek at some adventuring supplies. And as we were walking along, we saw some of those men in blue hawk masks trying to rob two sailors carrying a parcel to the Antiquities of Santucary.

As the honorable adventurers we try to be (or at least some of us try to be, I sometimes doubt those shoolgy Greyholds), we stepped in. We knocked out the robbers but one got away.

After we helped the sailors, I noticed how of odd a duo these lads were. One was a roguish minotaur (whatever that is, I’ve never seen one before) named Blur and the other was a human bard from the high seas named Saylornator. Their parcel was huge, so I helped them carry it and take it to the museum. They got their wages and we took our new friends to our usual tavern for a bevvy.

At the Vulgar Unicorn, One-Thumb gave us some ale and the lass paid Hakiem a silver for a tale.

This time, the storyteller told about a elephant-looking man from another planet. He and his people crashed oan to this Earth. They had extraordinary powers, but this man was the last of them. He was enslaved by a warlock named Yara and imprisoned in the Tower of the Elephant in town.

Not knowing the truth of this, I felt bad for the lad. Slavery is something no one should suffer.

The undead attacks oan the Santuary’s wall began happening more often. I can tell these are worrying Morgana. She keeps sending word to her circle. We finished our drinks and decided to take a walk down there and see if we could help.

As we were roaming we heard growling from a dark alley. The minotaur decided to see what it was. He snuck down there (I really don’t know how he sneaks but he did) and came running back feart (maybe he doesn’t sneak but thinks he does).

The minotaur and the bard ran toward the wall. Merick, Morgana and I hid behind the corner. A dark-hooded figure came out of the alleyway and went back into town. We went down the alleyway. That radged man had ripped a man’s heart out!

We set oaf after the guy (it WAS the lawful good thing to do). Morgana tracked a trail of blood back to the Tower of the Elephant. The minotaur scaled the wall (really) and we climbed up after him. We were in a grassy place with a wall oan the other side.

The minotaur went first, trying to sneak (as loud as he could). Then, we fought four lions that came out of the bushes.

A hedge maze stood between us and the tower. We decided to wait until the morn to have light. We went back to the Greyhold’s shop. A dark figure came into the brothers’ place and I chopped the dark figure down. The rest of the night was uneventful.

The bazaar was quarantined because of the plague breakout in Santucary. In the morning, the minotaur began suffering from the sickness. We tried to sneak out to get him to a healer but the Hell Hound Tempest blocked our path.

In a stable, Enas told the minotaur he would heal him if he brought him the Heart of the Elephant, a gem in the Tower of the Elephant. The wizard warned him though, he may not be the same afterwards. The minotaur agreed and became a half-orc.

The bard could not go because he had more packages to deliver so we climbed the fence, minotaur first. The maze was radge. We had to get gems to pass on to the next section, which meant that we had to fight fiends like snappin’ flowers to get the gems.

We finally got to the tower and the minotaur climbed to the top, us followin’. At the top, we found a thief, Taurus. He too was here for the Heart. As we went into the tower, he died as we fought a giant spider and her babes.

We went down a staircase and came to a door. Behind the door was the imprisoned Elephant-man, Yog-kosha. He told us he was dying and his last wish was to have his revenge against his captor, Yara. We had to take Yog-kosha’s heart to Yara’s chamber and tell him it was a gift from Yog-kosha. Merick took the heart.

The minotaur Blur found the gem and we went further down the stairs. At the bottom, we found the captor’s room. We went in and gave Yog-Kosha’s revenge.

Suddenly, the tower began shaking and we left, except for the minotaur Blur who wanted to loot. After the tower collapsed, we found him underneath the rubble. He’d taken a beating and paid his debt to Enas.

We counted our treasure and started trainin’ for our next adventure and I will start studying -with the blacksmith, Dubrin.

Morgana's report to the Circle of Twilight

Report from the druid Morgana to archdruid Kagarn at Caer Paranor. Translated from Druidic.

The 25th of Promiset, 1427

Kagarn,

When I arrived in Sanctuary, I went to a meeting with Flynt to hear the last will of Anzi, the known dealer for necromancers and other criminals. Anzi was represented by his pleader, Rylan.

In addition to myself and my companion. Anzi named the brothers Greyhold, a wizard Merick and a fighter Morgan, also as heirs to the estate. Rylan said the group would receive share of the estate if they stayed in the mansion for 24 hours, beginning at six in the evening on the 22nd. Rylan also said that we must find a medallion in the mansion. We signed Rylan’s contracts and explored Sanctuary.

The group went to a local tavern, the Vulgar Unicorn, for a meal and ale. A strange barkeep called One-Thumb runs the establishment and he seems to know more than he lets on. At this bar, a blind man named Hakiem tells patrons a story for a copper. He told one of the Greyholds about a wizard that roams the streets of Sanctuary, cursed with appearing differently each day after falling in love with another wizard’s wife.

After our dinner, the dwarf and Morgan began feeling ill, so I suggested if we find a healing kit that I could probably cure them. On our way to a local shop, we ran into a giant man coming out of a dark alleyway. After he was out of sight, we found four men with blue hawk masks dead in the alley. The Greyholds looted the bodies, much to Flynt’s protests.

I bought a healer’s kit from the shop and treated my sick ally and the Greyhold. In the shop, a woman with fancy robes was there. The shopkeep did not know her name, but she seemed very out of place.

We rented rooms from One-Thumb. The Greyholds shared a room and the dwarf and I took a second. In the middle of the night, Flynt and I woke to a skirmish outside our door. Flynt opened the door to see a man lying on the floor. Being the dwarf that he is, Flynt went to help and the man got up and three of the man’s friends tried to steal our belongings. The Greyholds came to help Flynt and I fight them off. Flynt reported the incident to the desk and the giant man we saw in the alleyway came to take our statements. He must be in the city watch.

After that, we all went back to sleep. We ate breakfast the next day in the tavern. During our meal, a six-year-old girl approached our table after talking to One-Thumb at the bar. She introduced herself as Enas Yorland knew of our upcoming stay in Anzi’s mansion. Enas spoke as if she were much older than her age. She said the dealer swindled her out of some magic parchments and ink and offered us 100 gold pieces each if we found the items and returned them to her. Coin is coin, so we agreed.

We then went to the Bazaar to get any last-minute supplies. Here we came across the blacksmith Durbin and his wife, the fortune-teller Sraa. She told Flynt that he would be the one to free the dwarves from the yuan-ti. She also told me that I would die penniless, which was very comforting as you can imagine.

We also saw more men in hawk masks enter an apothecary. Curious, we entered the shop to see the men threatening the owner to pay a “protection fee.” The dwarf gave him the last two gold coins he need and the masked men left. After the apothecary explained he needed 20 gold to move his family and start over in another city, the Greyholds bought the man’s building from him.

With the time approaching 6 in the evening, we headed to Anzi’s mansion on the Street of Swords. Two guards protected the door and Rylan showed up soon after we did. He then opened the door for us and locked up inside.

We discovered a few trinkets, such as a diamond and a chipped vase, before being attacked by skeletons in the mansion’s dinning room. Flynt died in the skirmish, but I carried on. The Greyholds and I found Enas’ papers and we found a secret closet in Anzi’s bedroom, where a spectator attacked us. Upon defeating it, we found a platform that lowered into a cellar.

In the cellar, we found the criminal Anzi, still alive. He had our signatures and use them to torture us. When he stabbed or burned the paper, the person whose signature was on the paper felt it.

Together, the Greyholds and I defeated him and I can confirm that Anzi is dead. We took the medallion we needed from Anzi’s neck.

In the cellar, we freed a drow elf — yes, a drow elf — that Anzi had enslaved. Her name is Alexandria and she has promised to continue to fight for us.

Returning upstairs, Alexandria was able to bring the dwarf back from the dead with divine power. I do not know what to make of this, since the circle believes in not interfering with the cycle of life and death.

At 6 the on the 24th, Rylan opened the door. He said did not know Anzi was still alive and I believe he is telling the truth.

We returned to the Vulgar Unicorn where One-Thumb fetched Enas, who this time appeared as a grown black man. Enas said the parchment and ink had already been used, but paid us our coin. This is when I realized that Enas is the cursed wizard from Hakiem’s story.

In the coming days, we are all continuing our training. The Greyholds have opened a shop in the bazaar in the apothecary’s former shop. In exchange for money to upgrade the shop, the brothers sold me their half of Anzi’s mansion. Once we finishing cleaning out the building, I think the circle would be interested in using the estate as a stronghold in Sanctuary. The wall the townspeople built to keep back the undead may not hold out for long.

After resting up from their foray into Maure Castle, the party were alerted to an outbreak of the Red Plague in Hommlet. Rushing to the city to aid the victims, they were met by armed militia members who refused their admittance. They immediately spotted a flying airship sailing over Hommlett and armed men being deployed to the ground. These men were all dressed in the usual garb of the members of the Order of the Ebon Flame, Hayden Dunn’s outfit of malicious marauders.

One group of soldiers stormed into the tower owned by Rufus and Burne, while two other groups deployed out in the streets with longbows at the ready. Concerned, the party and the militia men ran for town to stop the assault of the tower. A battle ensued, with the airship providing covering fire from cannons. The soldiers who stormed the tower came out, package in hand. The soldier with the package climbed back aboard ship while the rest covered the escape. The flying ship set off and disappeared out of sight.

The party then learned from Rufus and Burne – who had been in other parts of the village attending the sick – that the Ebon Flame had stole some of materials Burne had been using to make a cure for the Red Plague. One item in particular was very hard to get, a piece of the heart of the Jungle Man. Rufus and Burne explained that they had encountered the Jungle Man several years ago on a previous adventure deep within the Sunken Forest. They also told tales of the horrid conditions and terrible monsters that prowled those unholy lands, and in particular “Molly” -the two headed maulosaurus who had killed one of their party members.

With time pressing, the party readied themselves and used Bricker’s druid ring to teleport to the outskits of the jungle. After a dangerous descent into the first level of the Sunken Forest, they encountered two stone golems that guarded the path down the cliffside they had traversed. Akil talked to several of the native birds on the way. The party discovered a clump of leatherwood trees, and they harvested some of the bark from the trees. They also encountered Molly for the first time, and saw her destruction first hand. When crossing the river, the party was attacked by pteradons. The group then decided to scout out the area using Haek’s rug of welcome. They encountered a second waterfall and went down to the next level of the jungle foliage and found a large island in the center of the river covered in ruins. Landing atop a large stepped pyramid, the party proceeded to explore the upper chambers of the structure and were met with a ghost of a long dead yuan-ti warrior. Haek and Aldoron were both aged ten years in the ensuing battle. Aldoran was overcame was fear and fled the pyramid only to be captured by a party of yuan-ti. Using Haek’s carpet, the party captured and defeated the yuan-ti with a well-placed web spell from Akil. Aldoran was freed and the party camped for the night in the shadow of the ruins.

The party found the Yellowskull and Kaleb assumed ownership of it. A new halfling thief arrived named Mortimer. The party descended upon the throne from the upper level into the hidden prison of Zuggtmoy with the aid of the Yellowskull. Zuggtmoy was defeated and the temple laid low. Iuz, upset at his inept followers, met the party, took his priest in the temple, and fled to the Abyss to punish him. Zuggtmoy vowed to return.

Thae party, laden with treasure, began the reconstruction of a base of operations at the former moat house. Once the moat house was finished, Kaleb received a mysterious letter and a silver key. The key could open the sealed doors hidden underneath the ruins of Maure Castle. The letter also alluded to his past and future. The party journeyed to the ruins and entered. They met a mysterious trader named Arley after they had participated in a magical gladitorial combat against an iron golem. They were soon joined by another mage named Akil from the Sea of Dust and a wild mage named Sparky.

The party then encountered Eli Tomorast, one of the co-leaders of the Order of the Ebon Flame on the second level of the ruins. Eli had grafted a tentacle and claw in the place of his hands. After overcoming him, the group encountered a strange purple stone set in the center of a room. The stone was a nexus of wild magic and anyone who touched it had random magical effects occur upon them.

After descending to the third level of Maure Castle, the party found a bastard sword hidden amidst some crates. The sword was intricately carved and black flames danced along the length of it. The party then found the Tome of Ebon Flame guarded by the demon, Kerzit. Defeating the evil guardian, Kaleb insisted on destroying the minor artifact to the party’s woe.

As the party left, they once again encountered Arley who once again wanted to make a deal. The party caustiously agreed to sell the sword with the black flames that they had recovered for a magical longseord, shortsword, and sling along with 20,000 gold. Arley thanked the party and as he saddled up, he revealed his true identity – Hayden Dunn, father of Kaleb.

In the following weeks that past, the party has learned of a marauding band of thugs dressed in black terrorizing the countryside. They are led by a man who wields a sword that emits a lightless flame. Kaleb’s uncle was one of his victims.

After resting in the temple, the party decided to head back to Hommlet to train their skills. Aldoron also lacked the skills to once again to make a mighty composite longbow – his third attempt now. Spending four weeks in Hommlet, the group then decided to head back into the Temple.

The party found the great bronze doors into the main temple broken asunder when they returned, possibly from a competing adventuring company. The group returned to the 2nd level of the temple and immediately went to the large octagonal room where the demon had been summoned. They were looking for the second brazier that they had left behind (the first one was worth 10,000 gp). It was gone when they re-entered the room, and they also found a group of defeated bugbears.

They returned to their exploration of the temple and entered a long corridor painted with different types of scenes, representing each of the four elements. Bricker set off down the corridor and immediately began to drown from some unseen magic. He returned and donned one of the green robes that had been looted from one of the priests in the Water Temple. This time, he was unharmed until he entered the section of the corridor that was decorated with fire scenes. He changed into a red robe, and along with Kaleb in a robe also, went down the corridor into the Fire Temple.

This huge room had several large pots, each full of a mysterious liquid (oil). A large alter and fire pit was in the room and fire glowed from the pit. The party made their way to the alter, and a pair of bugbears snuck out from behind a tapestry and fired at them. The bugbears immediately ducked behind the tapestries. The party charged the spot where the bugbears were. A human warrior stepped out from behind the tapestry with a fiery sword in one hand and a torch in the other. He threw the torch at the nearest pot and a chain reaction swept through the room in a series of explosions which engulfed the party. He ducked behind the tapestry out of sight. When the party closed on the tapestry, the warrior stepped out again and a rope of entangling flew from his belt and trapped Kaleb, Bricker, and Haek. Kaleb managed to get a burst of sound from his sword of sounding, but otherwise the three were helpless until they cut their way free. Blows were finally exchanged and the warrior and both bugbears were overcame.

Next the party searched an adjoining chamber and overcame two Fire Temple priests. During the last battle with the 2nd priest, Aldoron accidentally(??) shot Bricker in the back, not once – but twice. Bricker swore to watch the elf from this point on. While the party rested the night, they heard the sounds of another group of adventurers nearby.

Rested, the party set off to look for the competing band. They found evidence of the band being in the Fire Temple and followed them down to the 3rd level below the temple. The encountered a lamia that used powerful mind magic on Bricker and Kaleb. Kaleb immediately attacked Bricker and pummeled him into unconsciousness. Haek used his wand of paralyzation on Kaleb and managed to hold him still. The lamia closed on Aldoron and drained his wisdom twice before being overcame. The group regained it’s senses after the creature was defeated but Aldoron did not seem any wiser.

Next the party entered a room full of statues. While they were searching the statues, the lights in the room revealed their true identity. They were will o’ wisps. Urgently, the party fought the creatures and finally managed to lure the creatures next to a trapped statue and triggered the trap. Hurt, the creatures were much easier to defeat. Wearied and loaded with treasure, the party left again for Hommlet.

The party encountered a minotaur named Blade Kreel that had heard of their exploits. He desired to join them in their foray into the Temple. After agreeing to let him join, the party set off for the Temple the next day. Not far from Hommlet, the heroes were attacked by a trio of driders sent by Lolth to avenge the death of her favorite, the Master of the Moathouse. During a crucial moment of battle, one of the driders commanded Aldoron to attack his party, the product of his encounter with one of Lolth’s agents previously at the inn. Poor Oni fell first from Aldoron’s attack, and Zook was soon under control of the driders and sent to battle Aldoroan. Blade showed a lethalness that the party had not seen before when he defeated one of the drider attackers.

After a return to town to rest, the party set off again for the Temple and got there without incident. Following the map that they had previously drawn, the party encountered two priests from the Earth Temple and were forced to flee in fear, immediately dropping the objects that they carried. Regaining their composure, the party cautiously back-tracked and found the previous room empty. After a search, the party found an unusual cossack with gem-laden triangles sewn into it.

The party continued to search for the weapons that they had dropped and finally came to the Earth Temple itself. Four large earth elementals stood around the room motionless, and the two previously encountered priest were busy sacrificing the items that they had scooped up from the feared members. They were dressed in cossacks like the one they had found. After a quick discussion, Kaleb donned the cossack that they had found, rushed the now lone priest on the pyramid, and easily over powered him. Kaleb realized that he could command the elementals to do his bidding in the room. He ordered them to raise any other treasure that might have been sacrificed in the dirt-floored room. A considerable sum was found. The other priest was defeated as he returned to the Earth Temple.

The party pressed down into the next level of the temple, and found signs that it was dedicated to the element of water. Overcoming an owlbear and troll with almost no resistance to Blade’s whirlwind of death, the party ran into a mirror of opposition and were forced to fight several versions of themselves. Aldoran managed to break the mirror, and the evil doubles were defeated.

Next the party encountered a strange pool. It appeared that a triton was captured in a pool of water and needed rescued so he could keep a kraken from appearing. Cautious, Kaleb sent his rope of climbing down to tie onto the triton. When the rope was pooled out, acid had burned 8 feet of the rope off. Several party members received urgent messages for them to jump into the water and free the poor triton. Everyone kept their wits, and quickly left the room and hurried into the next.

In this chamber, a huge statue (or juggernaught) sat motionless. Around the room on tall columns, 4 gargoyles sat motionless also. In the center of the room a basin filled with treasure sat and a fountain bubbled gently to the west. When Blade struck the basin, the juggernaught started moving toward him. He ran about the room and the juggernaught rolled after him. Kaleb hit the juggernaught squarely and the strange figure rolled over him, almost killing him instantly. Bricker climbed up on top of the rolling statue as deadly arms on it came to life. Finally the juggernaught was defeated. The fountain was broken and revealed a longsword and a suit of elven chain mail.

The party pressed foward and entered a large octagon shaped room. A pit was in the center of the room, and an alter was beside it. Two braziers hung nearby, smoke billowing from them. Bricker touched the alter and a whirlwind slammed him. Kaleb poured some holy water onto one of the braziers and a Type 1 demon appeared (vrock). Scared and shaken, the party managed to overcome this wicked creature and fled.

They arrived at the personal chambers for some of the air priests in the temple. They overcame them, locked the doors securely, and hid inside the bedchambers.

The party was in Hommlet recovering from their latest foray into the Temple. Aldoron was out looking for materials for his masterwork bow, and Kaleb was at the local store selling goods the party had recovered and buying the newest, most fashionable gear for Zook and Oni. Bricker and Haek where lazily lounging about the Inn of the Welcome Wench when a young man entered the tavern. After a brief exchange with Ostetler the bartender and a nod in the direction of the heroes, the boy approached the pair and asked if he could sit at their table.

The boy explained that he was looking for someone to hire to look for his missing father. His father, being an adventurer of some repute, had set off several days earlier to investigate the strange disappearance of several farmers outside of Hommlet. The man set off on his horse and had not been heard from since, The youngster offered to pay a reward of 500 gold if Haek and Bricker could find his father or at least determine what happened to him. After a brief discussion, the pair accepted the task presented before them.

The duo set off to the southwest of Hommlet to the cottage where the boy and his family lived. After searching around the area, the adventurer’s tracks were discovered and the pair commenced to looking for the lost man.

Near the end of the first day, Bricker and Haek heard strange sounds coming from a ravine as they were setting up camp. Bricker moved down into the ravine to investigate and stumbled upon the rotting figure of a once-alive ogre feasting upon the dead carcass of a horse. The undead ogre was covered in fresh and dried blood, the fresh apparently came from the horse carcass and the old blood seemed to be the visible symptoms of The Plague. Bricker yelled and got the undead ogre’s attention, raced up the hill, and tried to hide as Haek readied his scimitar and shield.

The ogre lumbered up the hill straight to Bricker, whose foot was clearly visible in the undergrowth. The beast slammed the poor Halfling with a blood-covered fist, and Bricker was coated in the foul substance. Immediately, Bricker began to feel ill as the tainted blood mixed freely with his own. Haek rushed out as his scimitar of speed flashed angrily at the beast. In a few moments, the battle was over and Haek called upon the blessing of Horus to cure the Plague that was setting about to destroy Bricker’s body. A ring of sustenance was found inside one of the pockets of the undead ogre.

After the camp was set up, the two settled in for the night, Bricker on the first watch. As he sat around the campfire, the horses began to get uneasy and Bricker went to investigate. A huge cougar leaped at him, and caught him surprised. The beast fell upon him, claws and mouth mauling him terribly. He yelled for help, and Haek rushed to his aid. Bricker fell to the ground, unconscious from the cougar’s attack. The beast was finally defeated and Bricker regained his consciousness after Haek laid his hands upon him. The rest of the night was uneventful and the pair decided to stay another day at their present location so they could heal from the previous day’s battles.

On the morning of the third day, Bricker and Haek set off down the ravine and followed the old trail that the ogre had made while dragging the corpse. The trail followed a stream and eventually it came to a huge willow tree. The pair heard the sounds of young cats playing and moved to investigate. Bricker spooked two young mountain lion cubs (though they were exceptionally large for their age) and the kittens ran inside the hanging tree branches. Their mother came outside the branches, spotted the two, and charged them. After a pitched battle, Haek and Bricker defeated the mother and moved inside the tree. Once inside, they found the remains of several animals, saddles, and other belongings. The two kittens were huddled high in the tree. A marked cloak was taken back to the boy, and he identified it as his father’s, much to his sorrow. Apparently the mountain lions had been the reason for the disappearances in the community.